Back to birdwatching

I was out birdwatching today, the first time since I got back from Denmark in May. I did quite a bit while I was in Denmark where its a little easier to spot the birds especially during spring time because there are no dense forests like our broadleaved evergreen forests.







(halfway down the old road)







bh suggested we go to the Awana spot but we found out today the trail is closed to the public. So is the road to the old pumphouse. So two good spots closed to the birdwatchers. We then went down to the old Genting road and the first spotting was the blue-winged leafbird. Apparently there was a pair but I only caught sight of one.

I had on my list four bulbuls (some I've seen before) but the sight of the day was the Grey-bellied bulbul, which stayed around for quite a while so I really had a good look. The others were the Black-headed bulbul, the Black-crested bulbul and the Red-eyed bulbul.

The one that "followed us around" were the striped tit babbler, which is very common here. We found them at the different spots we walked, and together with the flowerpeckers, they made the surrounding very lively. We definitely saw both the male and female orange-bellied flowerpecker and the juveniles with the very distinct orange beak, and we spotted a few and thought it wouldn't have been possible to have that many young ones. But based on the images, I'm guessing it was a very big happy family:)

To me the bird of the day has to be the Oriental White-eye, because its got such a distinct look and we found it trying to find some food or foraging for something from a nest (not belonging to it) and was there long enough for me to fiddle with my binos to get a good look. I'm putting a picture here from OBI's website...otherwise my posting is too boring:) I like this pic!

(pix by David Bakewell, taken at Damai Cultural Village, Sarawak. Source: Birding in Malaysia website)

Close to where we spotted the oriental white eye, we were treated to the Verditer Flycatcher, a beautiful light blue bird. I thought I spotted another one in dark blue and thought it could have been another bird, but glancing through the OBI images, I concluded that I just saw the Verditer, even if it looked a but chubbier than the other! Have to share an image where the blue is much stronger.

(Pix by Alagan taken in Genting. Source:Birdings in Malaysia website)










I'm also learning to appreciate the swallows and swifts, and I think the Whiskered Treeswift is a rather nice bird. The good thing about this one is that it tends to perch itself on the branch right at the end and stays there a while, so you have the chance to observe it. The pix I've linked is a beautiful one of the female. Got to pay attention a bit more to the fast fellas zooming past!

The last is something we're not quite sure of, or at least I'm not. bh suggested it was a pair of woodshrike, then we saw some features that she said were closer to the Cuckoo-shrike. I thought the Lesser Cuckoo-shrike was a match, but somehow the female we saw didn't seem to have that many bars all the way below.

So a total of 11 today, mostly new to me though I've been on this route twice now with bh. Maybe we'll try another place the next time. I'm also thinking of documenting the birds in and around Livillas, where I stay. I've got a few I know for sure, and it would be nice to have an experienced photographer to get the shots.

By the way, links to the images of the birds are from the Oriental Bird Club and I've tried to find the ones by Malaysian contributors. Many of them are from Dr. Amar Singh, whose book Friendship with Birds I have, thanks to my editor friend who thought I might want to review it. I haven't, but I love the book:)